This is a typical example of why Americans are so hated in much of the world be it Europe, South America or the Middle East. Russia is interested in Serbia because of its Slavic Christian soul. It also knows that the Americans bombed the Serbian factories, television stations and schools because it wanted to build another base . It also is aware that after the American bombing the Islamists destroyed hundreds of medieval Christian churches and monuments.
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Westerners didn't hold triumphal parades at the end of the cold war, but much of the Russian leadership felt defeated by them, and by weakness and treachery within. During the NATO bombing campaign against Serbia in 1999, the Russians squirmed under the embarrassment of having to idly stand by as NATO exercised its power in Moscow's backyard. At the end of the campaign, the Russians expressed their displeasure by outmarching NATO occupation forces and seizing the main airfield in Kosovo—probably hoping they could use it to split Kosovo and preserve Russian influence with the Serbs. But the gambit failed: Russian commanders agreed to serve under NATO authority and, after a couple of years, gave up and withdrew. Moscow sees Serbia as its final bulwark in the Balkans against the steady advance of the West.
In the nine years since, Russia under Putin has become less democratic at home and more assertive abroad. As NATO membership has grown and the EU has expanded to include Eastern European states like Slovenia—part of the former Yugoslavia—Russians have responded by buttressing their own nationalism. And where better to agitate for Russian honor than in Kosovo? Serb nationalism, raging against the Ottoman Empire, was a cause célèbre for the Russian tsars of the 19th century; it is only fitting that today it is once again the lever by which Russia can try to exercise influence in the West.
Of course, Serbia is only part of that story. Russia has also grumbled loudly about NATO's proposed missile-defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic—Putin has warned they could lead to a new arms race. He threatened Georgia with recognition of its factional movements, and even suggested that Russian missiles might one day be aimed at Ukraine—all efforts to extend Russian influence. As the fires burned in the Balkans last week, it was easy to be distracted by the histrionics surrounding Kosovo's new statehood, and to fret about the precedent its independence sets. But the most important underlying story is whether Russia—and its friends in Serbia—can come to terms with a modern world demarcated not by old boundaries and geostrategic chess games, but by human freedoms and new opportunities.
Clark commanded NATO forces during the Kosovo war in 1999.
© 2008
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